Letters
I am the Cemetery Supervisor for Middlesbrough Council.
As you may be aware the Council along with the 'Friends of
Linthorpe Cemetery' Group, won a Heritage Lottery Bid and many
improvement works have been carried out within the cemetery.
The Hebrew Prayer Room is being renovated and when
completed will be used not only for burial or dedication services, but
also as an Education Room for the groups of school children who have
been doing projects within the cemetery.
The roof has been repaired so that there is no more damage
done by the rain, the internal ceiling lowered, a new cloakroom
facility, a separate sink outside of this area for use during services,
new windows, there has been two CCTV cameras erected at the front and
back of the burial section, new doors (and possibly external decorative
wrought iron gates externally for added security), heating and
decoration.
David Simon has I believe the Dedication Stone from the
Synagogue on Park Road, plus 2 other plaques which require fixing in the
building, and the Consecration Stone from the room itself has been taken
down, cleaned (I have it here in my office) and will go back up again
shortly when work is complete.
Joyce [Lucas] advises that she thinks the original windows
from the building were put into storage and you may know their
whereabouts. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated as it may
be possible for one of the windows to be either replaced or utilised in
some way.
There is to be a Celebration Day in the new year (date to
be advised) and I thought it would be appropriate that any pictures or
original fittings put on show.
This is a bit of a long shot, but I am tracing the Gibbon
family tree in Guisborough, and one of my ancestors was Ann
Weisman/Wiseman. As Redcar is not far, I am wondering if you have her in
a tree you may have done. She was born in 1766 in Worstead, Norfolk.
[Ed note: We replied as follows]
There was a Wiseman family living in Redcar up to the
1920s. Whether there is any connection with my family, I do not know.
There is a reference to a Leah Wiseman from Redcar on this website. See
the letter from Kitty (Taylor) Howard at:
http://www.kmbro.org/Newsletters_p12.htm
I don't know if this is of any help to you.
Just to let you know that I am
the granddaughter of Rabbi Louis Miller and my granddaughter was just
named Basha for Bessie Miller of Blessed Memory. It is a wonderful honor
that my granddaughter will be able to read about her great-grandparents'
life from so long ago. My brothers, Jonathan and Ari (named for Louis
Miller) and myself are the children of Naomi, who was Rabbi Miller's
second daughter.
